Main course French
Easy Chicken, Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet
Editorially prepared
A simplified cassoulet with crisp-skinned chicken thighs, pork sausages and white beans in a thyme-scented sauce. Tinned beans shorten the preparation, and the meat and sauce cook in the same dish.
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Ingredients
4 servings · metric units
For more servings, brown the meat in batches and use a wider dish or two dishes. Keep the chicken in a single layer with its skin above the liquid. Roasting time depends on the size of the pieces, not just the number of servings.
Substitutions
Substitute amounts are adjusted to your selected servings.
- Instead of raw Toulouse-style pork sausagesraw Polish white pork sausage
A more readily available alternative to Toulouse sausages in Poland. Choose a mild, unsmoked sausage; its marjoram and garlic will give the dish a slightly different aroma. Use the recipe's total sausage weight as a guide rather than the number of sausages. Add it at the same stages and cook the centre to 75°C.
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Optional ingredients and substitutions
You’ll need
Wide, shallow flameproof casserole or deep ovenproof frying pan, about 30 cm across · Kitchen tongs · Chopping board and knife · Sieve · Plate for holding the browned meat · Food thermometer
Method
0/6 stepsPrepare the ingredients
Heat the oven to 200°C conventional or 180°C fan. Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic. Drain and rinse the beans, then leave them in a sieve. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper. Cut the sausages into large pieces; wash the board, knife and your hands after handling raw meat.
Prepare the ingredients Brown the meat
Heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil in the dish over a medium heat. Add about 900 g of chicken thighs skin-side down and fry for 8 minutes, until the skin is golden and releases easily from the base. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Add 300 g of sausages and brown for 5 minutes, turning until coloured in places. Set aside with the chicken. The meat is still raw inside; continue cooking without interruption.
15:00Brown the meat Soften the onion
If there is a deep pool of fat, pour off the excess, leaving a thin coating. Add 180 g of onion and cook over a medium heat for 7 minutes, stirring, until soft and lightly golden. Add 3 pcs of garlic and 1 tsp of thyme. Stir for 1 minute, just until fragrant; do not let the garlic brown.
08:00Soften the onion Add the beans and stock
Pour in 400 ml of chicken stock and scrape up the browned bits from the base. Add 800 g of white beans, stir gently and bring to a gentle simmer; allow about 2 minutes. Return the sausages and chicken with any juices from the plate. Arrange the thighs skin-side up, keeping the skin above the liquid.
02:00Add the beans and stock Roast uncovered
Transfer the dish to the oven and roast uncovered for 35–45 minutes. The chicken skin should be deeply golden and crisp, and the sauce noticeably thicker but still moist between the beans. Check the thickest part of the thighs without touching the bone, and the centre of the thickest sausage piece: both meats must reach at least 75°C. Cook for longer if needed.
40:00Roast uncovered Rest and serve
Leave the dish uncovered for 5 minutes so the sauce thickens slightly. Spoon the beans and sauce onto deep plates, add the sausage pieces and place the chicken on top, skin-side up. Keep the sauce off the crisp skin.
05:00Rest and serve
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Tips
- Dry the chicken skin thoroughly and leave the thighs undisturbed for the first few minutes of frying. Browned skin releases more easily from the pan.
- Stir gently once the beans are added so that most of them stay whole.
- Do not pour stock over the chicken skin or cover the dish during roasting. Steam softens the skin.
- If the meat is cooked but the sauce is too thin, move the meat to a clean plate and simmer the beans uncovered for a few minutes. If the sauce dries out before the meat is cooked, add a little hot water around the edge of the dish.
Storage
Divide fully cooked leftovers between shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Keep for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge. Reheat covered with a splash of water until the meat and beans are piping hot throughout and the centre of the meat reaches 75°C. The skin will soften during storage.
Timing
Hands-on: 30 min · Cooking: 70 min · Resting: 5 min
